17-year-old sentenced to 7½ years for manslaughter

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A 17-year-old boy was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years’ detention for manslaughter at the Central Criminal Court on 16 November 2020. Mr Justice Paul McDermott imposed the sentence. The proceedings were reported on 16 November 2020.

Azzam Raguragui, 18, died after the defendant stabbed him during a fight in Finsbury Park, Dundrum, Dublin 14, on 10 May 2019. A jury found the teenager not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in September. He had previously offered to plead guilty to manslaughter, but the Director of Public Prosecutions rejected the offer.

Mr Justice McDermott said the prosecution had not proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused inflicted the fatal wound after Azzam fell while trying to escape the fight. He said the fatal wound was inflicted during a violent and frightening fight between two groups of teenagers and that the accused believed he was acting in self-defence or in defence of his friends.

The judge identified bringing the knife, failing to seek assistance and pursuing Azzam after inflicting the fatal wound as aggravating factors. The report listed an early guilty plea, cooperation with gardaí in recovering the knife and the defendant’s young age as mitigating factors.